test prep blog nonfiction

I read the article "Smarter than you think" from the scholastic news magazine. This article is about the studies in showing that animals are very intelligent creatures just like humans. Even though humans are the smartest creatures a few animals come close. For example chimpanzees and their use of tools to help them in everyday tasks  and dolphins with their unique communication system are signs of very intelligent behaviors. Other smart animals include octopuses and elephants. octopuses are considered smart for their ways to get whats they want using different tactics. Elephants are smart for their seeming ways to feel emotions and that they can recognize them selves in a mirror.

The main idea that the author is trying to convey is that animals are smarter than most people think. You wouldn't expect an octopus to be considered as intelligent right? The article states that "They're generally considered the smartest invertebrates,". This shows that things might not always be what you expect. People expect monkeys to be intelligent because they are most like humans. They don't stop to think maybe other animals completely different from humans, can be smart too. Another unexpectedly smart animal is the elephant. "These behaviors are telltale signs of high intelligence." stated the article. the elephants way of feeling emotions and the fact they notice themselves in a mirror shows they have skills most other animals don't. most other animals would think their reflection in a mirror was another animal of their species.

I think this is a very interesting article because i can relate to it. This makes me wonder what other animals are smarter than we think or may know. I think if we tested more animals then we can uncover new talents they might have. It also makes me wonder why we expect animals to be less smart than us like why do we assume that all animals are less intelligent. If we tried i bet we can train animals to do amazing things. Even things we humans might not be capable of. Maybe one day we may find some crazy amazing talent that some exotic animals can do and we can't.

romeo and juliet : the use of light

I think the way  Baz Luhrman uses light in Romeo & Juliet is very interesting. i think he has a purpose behind the different aspects of the viewing and light in different scenes. Every scene has something different about the lighting. in some scenes its darker to show more seriousness and in others its lighter to show peacefulness.  

In the scene where Tybalt kills Mercutio on the beach the lighting changes. At first they are on the beach and its very light and sunny then the fight starts. while they're fighting the wind picks up and music gets louder. when Mercutio is stabbed and says "a plague on both your houses" the clouds roll in and it gets dark. thunder starts and the waves get bigger then it starts to rain. i think Baz Luhrman did all this as if to show destruction. piece by piece things get worse the weather gets dark, Mercutio starts to die and the devastation grows. when he does this it has an impact on the audience like how the rain always makes things seem bad and clouds can represent fear. well when he puts this in with Mercutios death it makes the audience feel bad about whats going on.

i think this relates to the real world because when other things affect our emotions we dont really notice. at first i didnt realize how the bad weather impacted our lives. more and more i notice that on rainy days im more sad and sleepy and so are others. also on sunny days i more happy.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

The Girl Who Chased the Moon is about a girl named Emily who goes back to an old town that her mother grew up in. When she arrives she is treated differently and has to unravel her mothers past to figure out why.  I think the only way for Emily to figure things out is by talking to people about what happened and that's a lot of work because not many people want to talk to her. An antagonist force that seems to be working against her is her grandfather (Vance) who doesn't seem to want to talk about her mothers (his daughters) past.


When Emily first realizes people are judging her based on what happened when her mother was there she wants to talk to Vance about it but since Vance is such an unusual character she can't seem to be casual with him at all.This frustrated her and she tried talking to any one about her mothers past. i think this would be a confusing thing for most people and the fact that Emily's mother is dead doesn't make it any better.

I think this relates to the world because everyone has been judged at some time or another. If your judged for how you look or how you act or even some of the things your parents did it's difficult to deal with. what some people don't understand is that people are not the same person as their parents. people have a whole life to make mistakes of their own and should never have to have the burden of their parents mistakes on their shoulders also.

the starry night

I chose The Starry Night  by Vincent Van Gogh for a visual art blog post. First because i love this painting and second because I'm trying to figure out some meaning behind it.

i noticed the dark figure on the left bottom side and i always thought it was some sort of mountain or rock. now that i look closer i think its fire. the darkness of the fire might represent smoke. and i think the fire  over the town doesn't represent destruction but it's as if the fire is giving light over the town.

another thing i love about the painting is in it's name the "starry" sky. i love how it's the nighttime yet the sky still has light colors in it. the light in the sky is like the light the stars and the moon shine over the town.

this gives some sort peaceful sense. also that the stars and the moon and the sky are like a blanket over the town. its sort of connecting to how the people in this town are in their beds sleeping under blankets.

my nomination

FOR AN ALL STAR NOMINATION I NOMINATE........................mark !
 http://hungry-for-books.blogspot.com/
 i love his blog posts because of the way he goes in depth about  the characters and then gets the bigger picture into the world. when he does that it's almost a if he is dumb-ing it down for me and explaining in detail his reasons for everything. when I can understand better i can respond better to things.
i also love how he takes different peoples situations into the equation when talking about how his theories affect the world. when he takes other variables- not just the book and how it affects him- into how he explains things; it makes it easier to relate to what he's saying. his ideas about things are very interesting and make me curious about the topics he touches on.
Excellent job mark!

The Hunger Games illusion vs. reality

The Hunger Games is really a book about illusion. When Katniss is in the arena during the games she doesn't know what to believe. She doesn't know who to trust who is sincere and who is doing things just for show. The Hunger Games are recorded play by play from cameras for each district to see. Every time someone in the arena makes a decision they are conscious of the cameras watching them and all of the districts watching them also. Doesn't this remind you of how we live today always watched by security cameras and surveillance cameras.
 Most people don't understand that the main reason that the book might show that all the poeple in the arenas are watced are to keep tabs on them and make sure they're alive. Also it brings in the theme of technology and the fact that it may rule their lives. When they are acting just for show it gets in their minds how they have to watch what they're doing.
When she was picked it was also like the fact that people get drafted and pushed into conflicts that they have no intention of fighting and that the innocent people of the world have to deal with the fact that they have no say in the choice of fighting or not. I think when Katniss doesn't know to believe in Peeta or his decisions she stays more wary and alert. It's good for the brain when your not completely always sure of things and when she has to act for the cameras as a different person than she feels inside its confusing and more difficult for survival.
 

The Hunger Games

      The Hunger Games is about a dystopian world where the main character Katniss is chosen to enter the Hunger Games with a boy named Peeta Mellark. They will be fighting against 24 other kids from the ages of 12-18, to the death.
       One big problem that goes on in this book is justice. In the reaping  process it is unfair each year starting at the age of 12 children have to put their names in to the hunger games. the names become accumulative because the next year you have to add your name twice and the next three times. Also to get a years supply of grain and food you have to add your name again. so the poor who need more food have more of a risk for getting picked.